Kickstarter of the Week: A Portable Scanner for Smartphones

Our Kickstarter of the Week: A flat-pack, fold-it-yourself scanner for your smartphone

Using your smartphone to take a photo of a document is one of those things that seems like it should be easy, but just isn’t. First you have to futz with the angle and the distance. Then there’s the flash: on, it’s too bright and washed out; off, it’s dark and blurry.

The Scanbox, designed by Phil Bosua, Ben Hillier, and Luke Allen, is an elegant solution to a simple but persistently frustrating problem.

Scanbox is an elegant solution to a simple but persistently frustrating problem.

On his Kickstarter page, Bosua calls the Scanbox a scanner for your phone, but it’s really more of a tripod. Made of laminated card stock (in your choice of 6 different colors) with magnets to hold it together, it’s designed to fold flat for transport, or to stash out of the way in a file cabinet. Constructed, it’s a trapezoidal box that stands 12 inches tall with a slot for your phone on top.

Upgrade to the Scanbox+ and you’ll also get rows of LEDs, powered by a 9-volt battery, to ensure uniform lighting. Just place your phone and snap a photo, or use a dedicated scanning app. Either way, no need for flash and no more blurry shots taken from your shaky caffeinated hand.

Bosua believes the Scanbox will be ideal for digitizing receipts and photos, as well as imaging 3-D objects. The project has already hit its $12,500 goal, but pledge in the next 50 days and one can be yours for $15.

A few examples of what Scanbox can do from the promo video on Kickstarter.